Thanks for the shout out Marc. If anyone has further questions about this I’m happy to weigh in as well.
On Mon, Aug 22, 2022 at 7:16 AM Marc Rettig <[email protected]> wrote: > Hello, > > I can offer a framework that is serving well in some of our work. > > We are in a long-haul culture-shifting effort with a local organization, > and the group has now done the repair and relationship skilling needed for > them to start thinking about creating together. Which has raised questions > like, “Where do we want to go together?” “Who do we want to become?” > “What’s worth trying?” Strategic questions! > > > > As you say, frameworks help. We’ve drawn from Dave Snowden’s vector > theory of change > <https://cdn.cognitive-edge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2022/02/02160119/VTOC-paper-2022.pdf>, > which—now that I think about it in light of your question—has nice > resonance with OST. We’ve certainly been taking an open-space-ish approach > with this organization. > > The idea is that in social complexity we’re working with emergence, so > it’s not helpful to invest in trying to implement a pre-imagined > destination. We can’t see the other side of this forest until we get there. > So we need a way to navigate in our desired *direction,* responding to > surprises and what we learn along the way, going at the *pace* of our > ability to live into our questions together. That’s the “vector”—direction > and velocity. > > This was seeded over a series of group sessions. > > - It took almost a year for this group of people to become able to have > honest, generative conversations about race in their organizational > culture. People talk about “describing the current state of the system” and > “noticing recurring patterns.” In some contexts that may be > straightforward. For these folks it has been a long and courageous road. > Real fear in real bellies. > > > - Small- and whole-group conversations about values and principles: even > before we name the direction we’d like to go, can we say how we would > recognize whether we’re making progress? What would we look at to notice if > we’re traveling in our desired direction? When we allow ourselves to dream, > what are the common themes that emerge? > > - Small- and whole-group conversations about directions. Never mind the > destination, what direction do we want to travel together? What are our > shared longings? In their case, their questions have to do with racial > equity and belonging. So their directions included desired qualities for > things like the diversity of their teams, relationships among colleagues, > self-care and self-forgiveness, relationship with the communities they > serve. > > - The next step will have parallel tracks: > -- A rhythm of experiments shaped by the question, “What’s worth trying > now (to move us a little further in a desired direction)?” > -- A way to collectively handle specific incidents and scenarios as > they arise along the trip > > -- Building a sub-group’s capacity to host these kinds of conversations > and processes themselves > -- Building the whole organization’s level of relationship skills > > > > So the strategic framework is pretty simple: > - a set of vectors or directions, > - principles for noticing how you’re traveling, > - a set of roles, rituals, rhythms and artifacts for deciding what to try, > how to try it, who’s involved, and how you’ll learn from it. > > Then it’s a (difficult!) matter of holding a long-lived container for > managing this portfolio-walk through the woods together. > > > > Here is Chris Corrigan’s helpful summary > <https://www.chriscorrigan.com/parkinglot/towards-the-idea-that-complexity-is-a-theory-of-change/> > of the approach. > > > > My example is of course a bigger deal than one open space session. But as > a framework or approach, maybe it’s helpful. > > Cheers. Thanks for all you do, all of you. > > Marc > > > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - > Marc Rettig > Fit Associates LLC > > www.fitassociates.com > marcrettig.me > > SVA Design for Social Innovation <http://dsi.sva.edu/> > > > > > > > > > > *From: *Jake Yeager <[email protected]> > *Reply-To: *<[email protected]> > *Date: *Sunday, August 21, 2022 at 8:04 AM > *To: *<[email protected]> > *Subject: *[OSList] Strategy frameworks? > > > > Hi beautiful people, > > > > Are there any strategy frameworks you like to couple with OST? I've used > OST with a group to create OKRs and it worked well. Wondering if there's > anything else out there that you like. > > > > If I remember correctly some folks here have also mentioned simply theming > the sessions during convergence and using the themes as strategic pillars. > Could couple with dot voting and/or opening space for action. > > > > Thanks! > > > > Much love, > > Jake > > -- > > ________________ > > > > When the mind is quiet, the sun of your heart will shine once again, and > you will be free of problems. > > - Robert Adams <http://www.robert-adams.info/> > > _______________________________________________ OSList mailing list -- > [email protected] To unsubscribe send an email to > [email protected] > _______________________________________________ > OSList mailing list -- [email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] > -- ____ CHRIS CORRIGAN Blog and resources: http://www.chriscorrigan.com Harvest Moon Consultants: https://www.harvestmoonconsultants.com Registration now open: Complexity Inside and Out online program Fall 2022 <https://www.harvestmoonconsultants.com/complexity-inside-out.html> Register now for the Art of Hosting September 26-28, 2022, Vancouver BC, Canada <http://aohbowenisland.weebly.com/>
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